Hat-holder.



M. P. COMEAU & J. F. WALSH.

HAT HOLDER.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 11, 1909.

Patented Got. 18,1910.

LVVEATORS.

A TTORNYS.

MOSES P. COMEAU AND JAMES F. WALSH, OF CHICOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

HAT HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

Application filed August 11, 1909. Serial No. 512,302;

" To all whom it may concern:

Befit known that we, Mosns P. column and JAMES F. VVALsH, both citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Chicopee Falls, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Hat-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in devices adapted to be attached to the backs of pews, opera chairs, and other seats for the purpose of holding hats, and consists of a back strip having a forwardly-extending lip, a latch piece or hat-retaining arm pivotally connected with said back strip and arranged to close in against the same above said lip, and a peculiarly constructed spring which is capable of securing the parts together as'well as of normally keeping said arm in its closed position, all as hereinafter set forth.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive,'neat, durable, and convenient h'abholder which can be readily attached to any suitable support, and which will hold securely any style of mens hats without injury to the same. We attain this object by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure l is a perspective view of the back strip of our hat-holder; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the retaining arm thereof; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the spring which constitutes the third separate element of our invention, and, Fig. 4, a side elevation of the complete device showing it in position with a hat held thereby, a portion only, insection, of said hat appearing.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

As illustrated, the holder comprises a back strip 1, an arm 2, and a spring 3.

The strip 1 has two holes 4, more or less, therein, for screws 5 by means of which such strip is fastened against a suitable support 6, Fig. 4:, which may represent a portion of the back of a pew, and said strip is provided at the top on its edges with two lugs 7 and at the bottom with a forwardly-extending lip 8. The lip 8 is designed to enter within a hat and really forms a hook upon which the hat hangs, as shown in Fig. .4 wherein 9. represents a hat and 10 its brim. There is a slot 11 in each lug 7, which slot opens through the lower edge ofsaid lug.

The arm 2 is preferably bowed in order to aflord ample room for the brim of a hat that rolls, and the base of said arm is preferably bent upward, as shown at12, so as to when the arm is closed, thus obviating any abrupt angles or projections that might injure the hat. The top of the arm 2 is in the form of a thumb-piece 13, and below this thumb-piece at the edges are two lugs 14 having mounted therein a pivot pin 15. The space between the lugs 14 is Wide enough to receive within it the lugs 7, and the slots 11 are so located in said lugs 7 that they receive the pin 15 when the lugs 7 slip in between said lugs 14 from above. The arm 2 may be stiffened by means of a head 16 struck therefrom and extending longitudinally on the outside thereof, provided said arm be stamped out of sheet-metal, as it and the strip 1 well may be.

The spring 3, which is of a width to fit. between the lugs 7, is bent into such shape that it canbe forced upward onto the pin 15 with the latter in the loop of the spring. The spring has a part which is adapted to lie along the inside of the thumb plece 13 and to bear against said thumb-piece, and a part which is adapted to bear against the adjacent portion of the back strip 1, when the members are assembled. At the upper end of the last-mentioned part of the spring 3 is a backward extension 17 that fitsover the top of the strip 1, in the manner and for the purpose presently to be explained. The parts are not usually assembled until the back strip 1 has been fastened to the support, because it would not be convenient to but as soon as this is done the spring 3 is forced upward until the loop of said spring contacts with said pin, and the arm 2 with the spring held up in position is held so as to present said pin to the entrances to the slots 11 and then forced upward as far as the upthis operation of setting the pin in the bearings afforded by the aforesaid upper ends of the slots, the extension 17 on the spring rides up on the face of the strip 1 and snaps over the top of said strip, with the result that the arm is securely attached to said strip through the medium of said pin and said spring, the latter retainin the former in its bearings and being itsel retained in turn by the pin and by said extension. Thus it is stand substantially parallel with the strip 1' slipped over the pin 15 from below and insert the screws5 with the arm 2 in place,

per ends of said slots will permit. During that a substantial though simple locking connection or engagement between the partsis provided without interfering in any way with the proper operation of the arm. The

parts cannot now be separated without pry-- mg the extension 17 off of the top of the strip.

The spring 3, bearing as it does against the strip 1 on the one hand and the thumbpiece 13 on the other, tends so to tension the arm 2 as to bring its base into contact with said strip ,or with the brim of a hat, but yields when said arm is grasped and drawn outward against the resiliency of said spring, or when said thumb-piece is pressed backward.

The base of the arm 2 clears the lip 8 to such an extent that there is room between these parts for the accommodation of a hat body or crown of any thickness.

In practice, the arm 2 is opened by swinging it forward, the hat 9 is hung on the lip 8 with the brim 10 extending upward in front of the strip 1, and said arm is released. When released, the spring 3 causes the arm to swin backward and close upon the brim' 10 whic is now rasped between the strip 1 and the base 12 0 said arm. The hat is thus securely held against any accidental displacement. To release the hat, it is simply necessary to again 0 en the device, by swinging the arm forwar as before, and while the deyice is thus open to remove the hat from the It is clear from the foregoing that this device is provided with double means for bold-- ing the'hat, namely, the lip 8 which aflords a support for the hat, and the spring-pressed 1 arm 3 in conjunction with the strip 1 which together firmly grasp the brim above the 40 aforesaid supporting lip.

The holder may be variously altered, if the scope of our claim be not exceeded, without departing from the spirit of our invention, more especially in matters of shape, size, and minor details of construction;

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, in a hat-holder of a substantially straight strip adapted to be fastened to a suitable support and provided at the top with lugs spaced apart and slotted in their lower edges, and provided at the bottom with a forwardly-extending lip, an outwardly bowed arm provided with lugs and with a thumb-piece above such lugs, a pivot pin carried b the said arm lugs and seated in the slots in said strip lugs, and a spring mounted on said pin an arranged to bear against said strip and said thumb-piece 6 to force said arm at its base toward said stri such arm falling short of said lip and hav1ngits base bent upwardly into substantially parallel relation with said stri against which such bent portion is adapted to bear, 5 and said spring being provided with a rearwardly projecting end extension to snap over the top of said strip for the purpose of retaining said in and said spring in place and of preventing said pin from becoming o disengaged from said slotted lugs, substantially as shown and described;

MOSES P. COMEAU. JAMES F.'WALSH.

Witnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, A. O. FAIRBANKS. 

